The Bar T Bar

The Bar T Bar Ranch, Inc., is a Subchapter S Corporation owned and operated by Bob and Judy Prosser. An Arizona agribusiness since 1924, Judy Prosser represents the third generation of the of the Chilson family. Bar T Bar operates on 348,000 acres on two ranches. Home Ranch includes State and Forest Service Lands. Black Rock Ranch is north of Joseph City and includes State, BLM, and adverse lands.

Cattle Operation

1,150 commercial cows, 800 replacement heifers

350 registered Balancer, Angus, and Gelbveigh cows

Brands

Bar T Bar owns the 3V's, 41, Cross, and –T–. We use the Cross on the right hip of the registered cattle and bulls, and the –T– on the right side of our commercial cattle.

Improvements

617 miles of fence

22 wells

41 miles of buried pipeline

73 steel, concrete, and rubber tire drinking tubs

47 miles of canals and ditches

322 earthen reservoirs and stock ponds

21 working corrals and shipping facilities

5 line camps

72 pastures, 3 cell-grazing systems with 34 paddocks

15 holding traps

3 ranch headquarters

Water Resources

The Bar T Bar owns rights to 1,000 acre-feet of surface water for irrigation, stock ponds, and flood control. This water is stored in Tremaine and Soldier Annex Lakes.

Winter Range

Northern

grasses

Blue grama

Black grama

Galleta

Alkalai sacaton

Needle & thread

Vine mesquite

Browse

Four-wing saltbush

Shadscale

Bigelow sage

Mormon tea

Southern

Grasses

Blue grama

Black grama

Squirreltail

Sand dropseed

Needle & thread

Browse

Winterfat

Bigelow sage

Four-wing saltbush

Mormon tea

Summer Range

Low Elevation

Grasses

Blue grama

Western wheatgrass

Crested wheatgrass

Squirreltail

Junegrass

Muttongrass

Browse

Cliffrose

Winterfat

Four-wing saltbush

Mountain mahogany

Four o'clock

High Elevation

Grasses

Arizona fescue

Western wheatgrass

Mountain muhley

Fringed brome grass

Muttongrass

Kentucky bluegrass

Intermediate wheatgrass

Crested wheatgrass

Orchardgrass

Black and pine dropseed

Forages

Gambel's oak

Yellow sweetclover

Pea vine

Cliffrose

Sages

Bur clover

Annual forbs

The Flying M

The Flying M Ranch is a family-owned business, and has been around since 1914. The Metzgers got their start at Ashurst Run, just east of Mormon Lake. They acquired the Pollock Ranch, where the current ranch headquarters is, in 1967. Its 93,000 acres is roughly 1/3 Forest Service land, 1/3 State land, and 1/3 private land.

Flying M runs between 850-900 cattle, and are a cow/calf operation, which means that the calves are sold at 7-8 months of age, between October and December. The cattle almost always go out of state. Some cattle is sold as local beef, but that's only about 1-4% of the herd.

Fun Facts

87 – pastures, some fenced with barbed wire and some with electric

30 – average days cattle are on any piece of land in a year

5000 – gallons of diesel just to keep the lights on (the ranch generates its own power)

40 – tons of feed and mineral/salt fed to cattle in a year

10 – employees

19 – dogs

30 – cats

28 – years old, the oldest running pick-up

1950 – year oldest piece of equipment was built (Caterpillar Dozer)

3 – semi-trailers used to haul water

1,000,000 – gallons hauled each year

13 – horses

9 – 4-wheelers

7.5 – gallons of gas a day

60 – acres hunting is not allowed on entire ranch

90 – dirt tanks

6 – wells

9 – miles of pipeline

20 – miles of water ditches

2 – lakes

6 – miles to drive for reliable cell service in 2015

15 – miles of road maintained by the ranch

300 – pounds of coffee used in a year!

Learning from the land and sharing our knowledge . . . so there will always be a West.